Team Kappius Mountain Bike Team: Battle the Bear / Front Range 50

Karen Hogan en route to victory in the Front Range 50

The Chipotle ladies, as always, set the pace for a big day at Bear Creek Park near Golden. Karen Hogan won the Front Range 50 (women 40+) & was 2nd overall women! Carol Newsom won the 40+ expert women Battle the Bear Race.

Carol Newsom winning Battle the Bear on a typical section of the course

Chipotle-Titus had 12 starters for these events & brought home 7 top 10 finishes. The TransAlp pair of Thomas Dooley & Mike Hogan practiced riding together (as required in TranAlp) finishing 2nd & 3rd in the Front range 50. They ticked off 5 laps at 37 minute per lap: @ 15.5 mph average with 4 climbs & 1000 feet climbing per lap. That was only 2 min per lap slower than the top pros riding the short race. Keith Sanders came in 6th followed by the other TransAlp pair - Drew Geer in 7th & Mark Gouge in 10th. Justin Green finished 20th, Jamie Kilkoyn 21st (30-39) & Lester Pardoe stuck in there with flats & a broken chain to finish 55th.

Dooley lead Hogan up climb #3 - TransAlp rules require the pairs ride within 2 minutes of each other

Hogan came in a little hot to this turn - he pulled it out

The field was amazing with over 200 starters all going off at the same time. After 500 meters the field funneled into a single track. The pace line strung out for 1/2 kilometer. The course was fast & twisty with very limited passing. Any opportunity to pass meant jumping out into untracked grass & cactus. This was mostly limited to climbs & it required a premium of watts to overtake anyone. Climb #1 came half way though the lap - 3 minutes @10-14% grade. After a quick downhill came climb #2 - 4 minutes @ a modest 7%. One more short break & then climb #3 - 3 minutes again but steeper @ 8-17% grade. Climb #4 was just a 1 minute climb but @15% it put some fire in the calves. Midway through the 50 miles, the pro & expert categories started on the same course, mixing in with the exhausted marathoners.